Several days later, within a mountainous forest area of the Land of Iron.
"The venue provided by the Land of Iron is just ahead!" Tatsuma said solemnly, his eyes fixed on the towering castle ahead and the heavily armored samurai patrolling its perimeter.
"The Kage Summit..." Danzo murmured, recalling the grand event he witnessed in his childhood, his eyes slightly darkened. "If Seiki Shimaseki could be under my command, there would be no need to hold the Kage Summit in a neutral nation. Konoha could still continue the glory of hosting the summit!"
Tatsuma chimed in, "Such an age where those who fail to see the bigger picture are still seen as heroes—what a messed up era!"
Danzo turned to Kinoto, hope glimmering in his eyes. "Kinoto, you're someone who possesses the same 'godly' talent as Seiki Shimaseki. The future of Konoha rests in your hands!"
"Y-Yes, I'll do my best!" Kinoto replied without confidence, bitterness welling up inside him.
Three years ago, during the Nine-Tails disaster, he, like everyone else, had witnessed firsthand how powerful Senior Shimaseki's Wood Release truly was. Naturally, he developed admiration and longing for the ability.
Yet in reality, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even come close to that level. The gap between them was even greater than the difference between One-Tail and Nine-Tails!
Samurai patrolling around the venue noticed Danzo's group and quickly approached.
"May I ask if you are the Hokage from Konoha?"
"That would be me, Fifth Hokage Danzo Shimura."
"Welcome to your arrival, please follow me."
"Thank you for the trouble."
Guided by the samurai, Danzo's group walked toward the central area.
Besides Tatsuma and Kinoto serving as personal guards, he had brought along a full twenty Jonin.
"Has the delegation from Cloud and Mist arrived yet?" Danzo asked while walking.
"Tsuchikage from Iwagakure and Raikage from Kumogakure have already arrived. The other two are still on their way," answered the leading samurai.
This answer didn't surprise Danzo; among the Five Great Nations, Sunagakure and Kirigakure were indeed farther from the Land of Iron.
"Other than Onoki, there aren't many familiar faces left..."
Meanwhile, at a small hill near the venue.
"So that's Danzo?" Sasori took a glance and then turned away. "He looks more like a war criminal than we do."
Kakuzu gave a straightforward remark, "Without his title of Hokage, this guy wouldn't be worth a dime!"
Obito crossed his arms. "This old geezer looks half-dead already. We better be careful not to kill him off accidentally when we move in."
"Enough," Pain said, then turned to Sasori with a calm gaze. "Has Uncle Aizen's contact arrived?"
"They have," Sasori nodded. "However, he mentioned his task is merely to stop Seiki Shimaseki. As for interfering with the Kage Summit itself, he won't participate."
"That's more than sufficient. From here on out..." Pain inhaled deeply, his expression turning cold and severe, "We just wait for the summit to begin."
...
Although the journey was long, Kirigakure and Sunagakure had prepared early and finally arrived at the Land of Iron on the night of that day.
After a night's rest, they resumed early the next morning.
Inside the grand hall, the Five Kages and their retainer guards arrived one after another, while samurai and senior Jonin stood outside on watch.
Danzo entered fourth. The moment he stepped in, the idle chatter that had filled the hall instantly ceased. Curious and almost mocking gazes came from all directions.
Clearly, they were intrigued by this Hokage, who had "barely defeated" Seiki Shimaseki and was widely regarded as the Hokage with the weakest grip on the village in Konoha's history.
But soon, their amusement turned to surprise.
Why does this Hokage-sama's forehead look so dark? Did he forget to wash his face this morning?
Noticing the astonished stares, Danzo let out a cold snort. "It seems none of you Kages understand the meaning of etiquette."
A from Cloud scoffed. "We Cloud people don't play games with empty formalities!"
Rasa steepled his fingers, resting his elbows on the table. "Sometimes being too polite isn't necessarily a good thing. Some people are too polite, which is exactly why you're sitting in this position, Hokage-sama."
Danzo's face darkened. The Sand Village had always been seen as Konoha's junior ally, yet this disrespectful Kazekage not only failed to show him respect—he dared to mock him!
Absolutely infuriating!
"Smart-mouthed brat, I've been around the shinobi world long before you were even weaned!"
Rasa didn't take offense, offering a polite smile instead. "I may be younger than you, but in terms of serving as a Kage, I'm actually your senior, Hokage-sama."
Danzo's eyes narrowed coldly. "You—"
"Please, let all of you seniors calm down a bit. Allow me, a newcomer, to say something fair." Mei Terumi smiled gently. "After all, Hokage-sama is still our senior, and we should remain humble. Besides, we might not even have the chance to hear his teachings again next time."
At first, Danzo thought her words were reasonable, but the more he listened, the more something felt off. Was this woman implying he should die soon? Or that his time in office was about to end?
His expression darkened. "Hmph, are you trying to gang up on Konoha again?"
A scoffed. "Don't try to pin things on us. It's just you making a mountain out of a molehill. Just looked at you twice and you act like we stole your lunch!"
"You—"
Just as the atmosphere grew tense and ready to erupt, a voice came from the doorway.
"Are all you young people these days so hot-headed?"
Everyone turned their heads and saw Onoki flying in through the air with his hands behind his back.
But the most noticeable thing was his wooden prosthetic leg—a reminder of past battles.
Hearing Onoki's words, Danzo's expression slightly softened. "Indeed, kids these days just keep getting worse."
But Onoki simply smiled. "Of course, that includes you!"
Danzo paused, as if he hadn't heard clearly. "What?"
Onoki chuckled. "I'm six years older than you. Rounded up, that's ten. Calling you a young man isn't excessive!"
Danzo's face turned red, his nostrils flaring out white mist. "Onoki, you—"
He silently cursed to himself. Why was everyone targeting him today?
"I didn't mean only you!" Onoki flew to his seat, glancing at everyone present. "If the main topic of this Kage Summit today is just arguing, then I'm leaving right now. I have no interest in embarrassing myself with all of you!"
Now Mifune, who had come in with Onoki, stood in the moderator's spot and said, "I agree with the Tsuchikage's opinion. The Kage Summit is for solving problems, not creating them. For the peace of the shinobi no sekai, please try to understand and tolerate each other!"
Seeing that Mifune had gone this far, A slammed the table. "Enough! Now that all the Kage are here, let's stick to the summit's agenda and avoid side topics!"
They exchanged glances, quietly accepting what Raikage had said.
Seeing no objection, A continued, "I now officially declare the Kage Summit open! The main topic of this summit is how we deal with the threat from the Akatsuki organization. I've already shared the basic info about this organization with you. If you have any extra info to add, now's the time to speak up!"
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